Читать книгу Exploring Kitchen Science - The Exploratorium - Страница 15

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On average, the tiny pink

bumps on your tongue—called

papillae—each hold around 15 taste buds.

The more you’ve got, the more you taste.

Supertasters have more than 30 papillae in

the reinforcement-circle area. They often love

sweets but hate bitter things, such as coffee.

About half of us have only 10 to 30 papillae

in the area. We’re just called tasters (yawn).

And the rest—“nontasters” who detect

flavor but aren’t picky—sport fewer

than 10. Ask your family members if

they like bitter foods. Do the

supertasters say no?

What’s the Deal?

Write down everyone

,

s name. Then ask

your first volunteer to dry his tongue with a

paper towel.

Drip blue food coloring on a cotton swab

and paint the tip of his tongue. Tell him to

swish saliva around and swallow until his whole

tongue is beautifully blue.

Stick a reinforcement circle on his

tongue tip. Ask someone to hold the flashlight

while you use a magnifying glass to look at

his tongue in that circle. Pretty pink bumps—

the papillae, which hold taste buds—show up

against the blue.

Count up the papillae you see. Write that

number by his name. Now call up the next

volunteer and repeat.

Try This Next!

Ever tried enjoying a snack when you’ve

got a dry tongue? Go ahead, pat down

your tongue with a paper towel. When it’s

good and parched, close your eyes and

have a friend put a bit of cookie or pretzel

on it. Can you taste anything? The answer

is probably no. That’s because you need a

liquid medium in order for flavors to bind

to the receptor molecules in your taste

buds. Thank goodness for spit!

1. Gustatory hairs mingle

with a mix of food

molecules and saliva.

3. The receptors send

messages to your sensory

cortex via the cranial

nerves, and then your brain

says, “Yum” or “Ick!”

2. The hairs

report what

they taste to

the taste bud’s

50 gustatory

receptor cells.

TASTE BUD